Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0004134 (ataxia)
 15,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Rats rendered diabetic by alloxan monohydrate were studied to investigate the effect of increased blood glucose upon the concentration of various putative neurotransmitter amino acids in the cerebellum. No modification was found in the concentrations of glutamate, gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamine, glycine or taurine, but there was a significant decrease in the cerebellar concentration of aspartate in the diabetic animals. This raises the question of the specificity of the aspartic acid defect found in some form of ataxia.
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PMID:Effect of alloxan diabetes on cerebellar amino acids. 64 90

The effects of the non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist MK-801 and the novel competitive NMDA receptor antagonist CGP 39551 on levels of 11 amino acids, including several excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters, were studied in 12 brain regions of rats. Both drugs were administered at doses which produced comparable behavioural effects (ataxia, hyperactivity). Amino acids were determined in brain tissue by high-performance liquid chromatography after o-phthaldialdehyde precolumn derivatization. MK-801 (0.1 mg/kg, i.p.) moderately increased the concentration of glutamate and GABA in several brain regions. Other amino acids (glutamine, taurine, asparagine, alanine, serine) were only altered in single brain regions, or were not altered at all (aspartate, glycine, threonine, arginine). In contrast to MK-801, CGP 39551 (10 mg/kg, i.p.) increased glutamate levels only in the cerebellum, and produced no significant alterations in levels of GABA. The data demonstrate differences in alterations of amino acid levels in response to competitive and non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonists and support the assumption that competitive NMDA antagonists may be more selective than non-competitive antagonists.
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PMID:Regional alterations in brain amino acids after administration of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonists MK-801 and CGP 39551 in rats. 167 57

We report a case of cystinuria and glutamic aciduria, presenting with progressive cerebellar manifestations. She had cerebellar type dysarthria and limb ataxia. Head MRI revealed cerebellar atrophy. Urinary amino acid analysis showed excessive excretion of glutamate and the dibasic amino acids (cystine, arginine, lysine, and ornithine). Cystine and glutamic acid are thought to be transported in a common membrane transport system. Reduction of glutamic acid and cystine in the cerebrospinal fluid was revealed. A relationship between cystinuria and cerebellar manifestation was discussed.
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PMID:Cerebellar ataxia with glutamic aciduria. 168 67

A mutant strain of Han-Wistar rat carries an autosomal recessive gene producing spastic paresis which is characterized by ataxia, tremor and hind limb rigidity. Brains of affected rats and unaffected littermate controls were transected at the mesencephalon into rostral and caudal portions (the caudal portion contained the cerebellum and brainstem). Poly(A)+ mRNA was isolated from pooled rostral or caudal portions and injected into Xenopus oocytes. The oocytes were voltage-clamped and exposed to 1 mM L-glutamate, 500 microM kainate, 500 microM quisqualate, 200 microM N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) or 1 mM gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Oocytes injected with mRNA isolated from the caudal portions of the affected rat brains exhibited statistically significant increases in glutamate and kainate peak current responses compared to oocytes injected with mRNA from other brain samples. No differences were noted in the responses of the groups when exposed to quisqualate, NMDA or GABA. Cerebellar and brain stem mRNA were also isolated separately in different groups of mutants and unaffected littermates. Only oocytes injected with cerebellar mRNA from mutants displayed statistically significant increases in responses to glutamate and kainate. In parallel morphological studies changes in the cerebellum of mutants were also observed. These consisted of a loss of Purkinje cells and an asymmetrical disarrangement of the granule cell layer of cerebellar cortex. Taken together, the physiological and morphological results suggest that alterations in glutamate/kainate receptors in the cerebellum are phenotypic manifestations of the Han-Wistar mutation. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that this mutant rat might serve as a model of glutamate/kainate excitotoxicity in the brain.
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PMID:Altered excitatory amino acid function and morphology of the cerebellum of the spastic Han-Wistar rat. 168 5

Neurochemical interactions of tiletamine, a potent phencyclidine (PCP) receptor ligand, with the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-coupled and -uncoupled PCP recognition sites were examined. Tiletamine potently displaced the binding of [3H]1-(2-thienyl)cyclohexylpiperidine with an IC50 of 79 nM without affecting sigma-, glycine, glutamate, kainate, quisqualate, or dopamine (DA) receptors. Like other PCP ligands acting via the NMDA-coupled PCP recognition sites, tiletamine decreased basal, harmaline-, and D-serine-mediated increases in cyclic cGMP levels and induced stereotypy and ataxia. Tiletamine was nearly five times more potent than PCP at inhibiting the binding of 3-hydroxy[3H]PCP to its high-affinity NMDA-uncoupled PCP recognition sites. However, following parenteral administration, dizocilpine maleate (MK-801), ketamine, PCP, dexoxadrol, and 1-(2-thienyl)cyclohexylpiperidine HCl, but not tiletamine, increased rat pyriform cortical DA metabolism and/or release, a response modulated by the NMDA-uncoupled PCP recognition sites. Pretreatment with tiletamine did not attenuate the MK-801-induced increases in rat pyriform cortical DA metabolism, a result suggesting that tiletamine is not a partial agonist of the NMDA-uncoupled PCP recognition sites in this region. However, following intracerebroventricular administration (100-500 micrograms/rat), tiletamine increased pyriform cortical DA metabolism with a bell-shaped dose-response curve. These data indicate a differential interaction of tiletamine with the NMDA-coupled and -uncoupled PCP recognition sites. The paradoxical effects of tiletamine suggest that tiletamine might activate receptor(s) or neuronal pathways of unknown pharmacology.
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PMID:Contrasting neurochemical interactions of tiletamine, a potent phencyclidine (PCP) receptor ligand, with the N-methyl-D-aspartate-coupled and -uncoupled PCP recognition sites. 184 86

Leukocyte glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) activity was measured in 11 healthy control subjects, 16 neurological controls, 12 patients with dominant late onset ataxia, 15 patients with sporadic late onset ataxia and 8 with alcoholic cerebellar ataxia. Serum hexosaminidase activity was also determined in ataxic patients. Concentrations of free amino acids were determined in the lumbal CSF of 16 neurological controls, 8 patients with late onset ataxia and 5 with alcoholic ataxia. Mean total GDH activity was reduced significantly in dominant (p less than 0.05) and sporadic (p less than 0.01) cerebellar ataxia, while the heat-labile form was decreased significantly (p less than 0.01) only in sporadic ataxia. All GDH activities were within normal range in patients with alcoholic ataxia. The serum hexosaminidase activities were also within reference range in all patient groups. The CSF concentrations of alanine, glycine, methionine and valine were significantly elevated and those of GABA and glutamate were normal in patients with late onset ataxia as compared to neurological controls. The most significant (p less than 0.01) increase was found for methionine. The amino acid levels of patients with alcoholic ataxia did not differ from those of the controls. The results suggest that GDH activity is only partially decreased in some ataxic patients and that altered amino acid metabolism may be reflected in the CSF.
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PMID:Leukocyte glutamate dehydrogenase and CSF amino acids in late onset ataxias. 227 Jul 51

Leukocyte glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) activity was measured in 11 healthy control subjects, 16 neurological controls, 12 patients with dominant late onset ataxia, 15 with sporadic late onset ataxia and 8 with alcoholic cerebellar ataxia. Serum hexosaminidase activity was also determined in ataxic patients. Concentrations of free amino acids were determined in the lumbal CSF of 16 neurological controls, 8 patients with late onset ataxia and 5 with alcoholic ataxia. Mean total GDH activity was reduced significantly in dominant (p less than 0.05) and sporadic (p less than 0.01) cerebellar ataxia, while the heat-labile form was decreased significantly (p less than 0.01) only in sporadic ataxia. All GDH activities were within normal range in patients with alcoholic ataxia. The serum hexosaminidase activities were also within reference range in all patient groups. The CSF concentrations of alanine, glycine, methionine and valine were significantly elevated and those of GABA and glutamate were normal in patients with late onset ataxia as compared to neurological controls. The most significant (p less than 0.01) increase was found for methionine. The amino acid levels of patients with alcoholic ataxia did not differ from those of the controls. The results suggest that GDH activity is only partially decreased in some ataxic patients and that altered amino acid metabolism may be reflected in the CSF.
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PMID:Leukocyte glutamate dehydrogenase and CSF amino acids in late onset ataxias. 228 45

Acivicin is an investigational amino acid antitumor antibiotic currently being evaluated in Phase II clinical trials. In humans acivicin causes reversible, dose-limiting central nervous system (CNS) effects including somnolence, ataxia, personality changes, and hallucinations. We have observed and reported previously that acivicin-treated cats exhibit symptoms (ataxia, sedation, somnolence) resembling CNS toxicity reported in humans. We hypothesized that if acivicin uptake into brain were mediated by a saturable transport system common to endogenous amino acids, drug uptake and CNS toxicity might be blocked by elevation of normal amino acid concentrations in circulating plasma. To test this hypothesis, cats received constant-rate i.v. infusions of either saline or Aminosyn, 10% (a commercially available mixture of 16 amino acids not containing glutamine, glutamate, aspartate, or cysteine) for 4 h prior to and 18 h subsequent to administration of acivicin at a dose producing marked behavioral changes in control cats. Presence or absence of ataxia and sedation were noted at intervals after acivicin treatment. Results showed that Aminosyn infusion prevented CNS symptoms in six of eight cats. Subsequent experiments showed that acivicin levels in brain tissue of Aminosyn-treated cats were 13% of the drug levels in saline-infused cats. Acivicin levels in most peripheral tissues were also decreased significantly by Aminosyn infusion but not to the extent observed in brain. Decreased brain uptake was shown to be due to a combination of amino acid blockade of drug transport into that organ and of increased total body clearance of drug. Concomitant Aminosyn treatment did not alter the efficacy of acivicin in mice bearing L1210 leukemia or MX-1 human mammary carcinoma. Further studies demonstrated that a solution containing only four large neutral amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, and valine) could also protect cats from acivicin-induced CNS toxicity, apparently without increasing acivicin total body clearance. However, a mixture of several other amino acids contained in Aminosyn (alanine, arginine, tyrosine, histidine, proline, serine, and glycine) failed to prevent CNS toxicity. We conclude that cotreatment with Aminosyn or a mixture of large neutral amino acids could protect cancer patients from acivicin-induced CNS toxicity without ablating antitumor efficacy.
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PMID:Prevention of central nervous system toxicity of the antitumor antibiotic acivicin by concomitant infusion of an amino acid mixture. 238 52

MK-801 is a ligand at phencyclidine recognition sites associated with NMDA-coupled cation channels, where it acts as a potent noncompetitive antagonist of central glutamate/aspartate (NMDA-type) receptors. Low doses (10-100 micrograms/kg IP) produced a dose-related and prolonged (greater than 1 h) enhancement of variable-interval self-stimulation responding. Higher doses (300 micrograms/kg) caused flaccid ataxia and disrupted responding. Ketamine HCl (3.0-100 mg/kg IP), a dissociative anaesthetic binding to the phencyclidine site, produced a similar response pattern, but facilitation was less prolonged and occurred over a narrower dose range. Kynurenic acid (3.0-300 mg/kg IP), a nonselective competitive antagonist of glutamate receptors, produced only depression of responding, possibly the result of kynurenate-induced blockade of central kainate and/or quisqualate receptors. The behavioural stimulant effects of MK-801 appear to be an intrinsic and essential feature of selective NMDA antagonists, and these effects of MK-801 differ qualitatively and quantitatively from the well-known facilitatory effects of dopamine-dependent stimulants.
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PMID:The effect of MK-801 and other antagonists of NMDA-type glutamate receptors on brain-stimulation reward. 255 Sep 89

The investigational amino acid antitumor agent, acivicin, has been reported to cause dose-related and reversible CNS toxicity in humans characterized by sedation, ataxia, hallucinations, personality changes, and other symptoms. In a series of studies aimed at characterizing this toxicity, we investigated several species as potential animal models, determined the effects of acivicin on neuronal action potentials, and measured drug effects on the brain content of several putative amino acid neurotransmitters. In mice, we were unable to demonstrate any effects of acivicin in a battery of tests used in identifying and classifying CNS-active agents of potential therapeutic utility. In rats, unlike phencyclidine and certain other psychotomimetic drugs, acivicin produced no impairment of shock avoidance or brightness discrimination in animals trained on an automated Y-maze. In contrast to the rodent species, acivicin effects were perceived as resembling those of cyclazocine by rhesus monkeys trained to discriminate between psychoactive drugs and saline by food reinforcement. Cats treated with acivicin exhibited dose-related symptoms of sedation, somnolence, and ataxia. Iontophoretically applied acivicin was shown to have no effect on the spontaneous firing rate of dorsal horn interneurones in spinal cats. At the time of peak CNS symptoms in cats treated with 100 mg/kg acivicin, content of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA; nmoles/mg protein) was elevated from 57-140% in cerebellum, diencephalon, midbrain, and corpus callosum compared to control animals. Brain contents of glutamate, glutamine, and aspartate were not altered in cats experiencing neurotoxicity. These studies have shown that some symptoms of acivicin CNS toxicity are shared by humans and higher non-human species such as the cat and the monkey but not by rodents. Acivicin itself is apparently not a CNS excitant or depressant, but metabolites of the drug could be. Acivicin may also cause increases in the GABA content of localized regions of brain.
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PMID:Animal behavioral and neurochemical effects of the CNS toxic amino acid antitumor agent, acivicin. 271 Oct 26


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